Big M

Mandel needs a positive commercial where he talks about what he could do for Ohioans instead of leaving it to the PAC's to trash Sherrod Brown. Some of the things Brown is being attacked for are exactly the reasons why a majority of Ohioans put in in office anyway.

Even though he was not entirely accurate about the source of some of the car's components, Brown's 'Cruze' commercial was brilliant, and really stood out to me compared to the constant attack ads filling the local airwaves.

Many GM detractors slap them for dumping cars to fleets and slapping rebates to move vehicles at a lost. If they are trying to fight this perception, then good for them. Unfortunately, their history of offering deep discounts and hanging on to old models has resulted in a customer base that expects rebates and like department store shoppers, will only buy merchandize on clearance.

GM also needs to be smarter introducing new models. For example, the new 2013 Malibu was launched in its least desirable configuration (the Eco). Based on what I've read, this is because they rushed it to beat the new Altima and Focus to market and the Eco was the only model ready to ship. The 2013 is now collecting dust on dealer lots while customers are snapping up the rebated 2012 older models by the truckload. The same thing will probably happen to the 2014 Impala unless GM avoids slapping a big rebate on the current model while launching the new one. Although this is subjective on my part but the 2014 Impala is hideous in pictures and GM would be ill served to have 2013 models on the lot for thousands off sticker at the same time.

Given their lack of offense since the All Star Break, whenever the Tribe's opponent scores their third run, it's time to turn the channel unless watching them lose floats your boat. Until they prove us wrong by scoring more than 3 runs a game more than twice a month, then it is a safe assumption.

Dolan is more likely to move the team south than sell it. He is all about profit, and what is more profitable than raking in the dough from an excited new fanbase with little knowledge of the purgatory this city's sports teams are trapping us in.

Just wait. Either some out of town "consultant" will convince him to move at his next opportunity or as soon as Progressive field is in need of an overhaul, he will pull a Model and tell city hall the ball park is a dump and to either give him a new or revamped ball park or he will move the team.

It does not matter how many gun owners would have been packing in the theater when Holmes entered, he was ready for them. The tear gas would have rendered them just as blind and helpless as everyone else.

I am not convinced that more people carrying guns would make us all feel safer. It may reduce the chance of spree killings and other public displays of violence but we would have to weigh that possibility against that of otherwise responsible gun owners snapping and getting someone killed. In addition, don't expect career criminals to be deterred. If they are hell bent on committing crimes, they will adjust. In a face off between an aggressive criminal and a gun toting victim, the winner will be whoever draws first, and unless we plan on walking around with our loaded guns in our hands, we will always be at a disadvantage.

Given the choice between risking having a statehouse filled with lawmakers who could be weak and incompetent vs. entitled and possible corrupt, Ohio voters have spoken and would rather deal with the former.

As for Suddes’ reasons why term limits are bad:

Reason 1: Many voters either don’t know or don’t care who their state representatives are or how much influence they have in Columbus.

Reason 2: See reason #1. Voters are not paying attention so whether or not they are doing a good job makes little difference as long as they are staying out of trouble.

Reason 3: Do term limits really make a difference in this case? Lobbyists can have just as much power and influence over experienced lawmakers, perhaps even more since they can develop long term relationships with individual lawmakers.

Reason 4: A lawmaker’s fate after his term is over is his/her personal issue and if getting a good job requires kissing the governor’s ring, then so be it. Because more voters recognize their governor, whichever branch has the most power matters little for voters will ultimately hold the governor responsible for the successes and failures in Columbus.

Reason 5: I agree with that argument but hey, it is common knowledge that most laws are written with loopholes.

Reason 6: Believe it or not, voters can be that stupid and partisan.

That being said, I do not support blanket term limits at the federal level. The duties of the legislative branch are too varied and complex to risk experimenting with mandatory turnover.

That would be really amusing. Randy Lerner sells the Browns, uses the proceeds to buy the Indians, and becomes a local hero by turning them into perennial contenders. We all know he has the money. All he would need to do is hire the right people to run the team...

The Browns are being sold by Randy Lerner? Check. That's One unpopular owner down with one to go. It is now the Dolans' turn at bat.

Unless JH3 and Co. decide to pull a Boozer and give the middle finger to Nance and Lerner by finding a loophole in the stadium lease to move the Browns to L.A. or some other big market, it is good news that there is little chance of the Browns leaving. However, I would not put anything past someone with his wealth; it is unlikely he built his fortune by being nice.

I am a more concerned about the Indians moving if Dolan sells the team since the economics of MLB are less friendly to smaller markets. The Cleveland market is shrinking and may soon fall below the level needed to sustain three major league sports franchises, especially with Indians attendance so poor these days. In addition, there are more economically attractive and growing markets like Oklahoma City and Charlotte that are just itchin' to add another major sports team and are just far enough away from other MLB franchise cities to support its own. It is only a matter of time before they convince some MLB team to move there if the league does not expand again.

Putting Tomlin in the bullpen is not a good option because he's always been a starter in the majors and with his recent issues in the first inning of games, it can be assumed he would just be another gas can.

Since he has options, sending Tomlin to Columbus is the next logical option except that would mean Hernandez would be the most likely candidate to take his place. Unless he's been taking pitching lessons while in exile, that is not much of an improvement.

The third option is to shop Tomlin before the trade deadline. Perhaps Shapironetti can sucker another team to take him off of their hands for some mid level outfield prospects.

Twitter is unique in that it feeds our basic needs to be both voyeuristic ("I want to know what other people are doing") and narcissistic ("I want everyone to know what I am doing"). The Twitterverse may eventually collapse under its own weight from people feeding their egos by tweeting their every waking thought for the world to see.

99% of the population does not know about this issue and most of the ones who do could care less. I'm sure the Chick-fil-a will be okay, especially after all of this nonsense is forgotten.

The oddest comments are from those who dismissively imply Chick-fil-A food is less healthy because of their corporate values even though they make arguably the best grilled chicken sandwich in the business. Is food favored by Liberals suddenly healthier because their policies are more progressive? If that is the case, then I'd better start eating more Big Macs because they donate millions to progressive causes and darnit, I wanna live to be 100!

The Tribe has scored more than three runs only twice since the all star break and one of those (a 11-9 loss to the Jays) almost does not count because they scored most of their runs after the Jays relaxed and tried to let them back in the game. They have also now failed to score more than 3 runs for seven straight games including this entire homestand. Way to show the fans some exciting baseball fellas.

Until they prove otherwise, we can almost book a Tribe loss their opponent scores their 3rd run.

Whatever state an online retailer calls home should be the rate they and their customers pay. Is that fair enough? Otherwise I don't see the complication in calculating the state sales tax of an online purchase based on the buyer's address. There are some products such as motor vehicles where this is already done.

"Republicans said the measure was all about Democratic posturing for the upcoming elections and would hurt the economy because boosting taxes on the wealthy will hinder them from hiring workers for their companies."

Who are they trying to fool? Most of our wealthy are either themselves corporate employees with limited ability to hire, or have chosen well paying careers while the majority of our actual job creators are middle class small businessmen. The last time I checked, there were not many doctors, lawyers, or salesmen who either had the need or ability to make hiring decisions based on how much they were getting taxed personally.

Any commercially viable alternative to petroleum is a step in the right direction and if it makes our tires last longer without some other tradeoff like lowered traction or ride quality, then so much the better.

It would be hilarious if some critter suddenly develops a taste for soybean tires.

Crop rotation is a strategy used by some farmers to conserve nutrients while still providing a source of income when their primary crop is not being cultivated. As legumes, alternating soybeans with their ability to fix nitrogen with another crop will help replenish the soil's nitrogen supply.

Excellent! I was concerned that to much of the Health-tech corridor would be allocated to government agencies. This is good news. We can only hope this type of development along the Health Line on Euclid becomes viral and the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses reap the benefits.

Since this money's been coming since 2009, I am surprised the council took so long to start discussing how to spend the casino revenue. Then again, should this be a surprise? I just hope they do something creative. Schron's proposal to squirrel away the initial revenue to buy the council more time makes a lot of sense.

At least Dimora and Company never got their hands on the casino revenue. God knows how they would have spent it.